Lubricator for diesel locomotive traction motor suspension bearings



April 20, 1954 R. J. HARKENRIDER LUBRICATOR FOR DIESEL LOCOMOT-IV MOTORSUSPENSION BEARING E TRACTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 26, 1951 April20, 1954 Filed June 26, 1951 R. J. HARKENRIDER LUBRICATOR FOR DIESELLOCOMOTIVE TRACTION MOTOR SUSPENSION BEARINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

R. J. HARKENRIDER LUBRICATOR FOR DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE TRACTION April 20,1954 MOTOR SUSPENSION BEARINGS Filed June 26, 1951 4 Sheets-Shet 3 INVEN TOR. 1/%zierz 2/54 2 April 20, 1 R. J. HARKENRIDER LUBRICATOR FORDIESEL LOCOMOTIVE TRACTION MOTOR SUSPENSION BEARINGS Filed June 26, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 M m m m Patented Apr. 20, 1954 LUBRICATOB; For;DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE TRACTION MOTOR SUSPENSION BEAR- ING S Robert J.Harkenrider, Winona, Minn., assignon to Gladys-'D.'.Miller, Winona,Minn.

Application J une'ZG, 1951Srial No; 233,656'

1. iMy'appli'cat'ion Ser. No. 109,563, August 'lq, I949,-now Patent2,640,742, dated June 2,1953, discloses a lubricator for diesellocomotive traction motor suspension bearings including an applicatorcomposed of a group of felts'in theaxle cap having'roundedsurfaces whichare resiliently'urged througha window opening in the bearing liner andpressed against the journal to apply the oil.

In order to leave clearance for proper operation of the-appliancecarrying the felts, in a large number of installations the overall widthof the group was made substantially le'ss'tha'n the window opening, withthe result that'sometimes there is insufiicientoil supply adjacent tothe extreme edge of the contact between the journal and theBabbitt'liner.

Theprincipal object of this invention is to provide the' existingappliances with felt groups that willsupplythe'necessary oil to themarginal area on they journal.

Generally speaking, this is accomplished by providing a group offelts'narrow enough atone end portion to fit the existing appliance" andwide enough at the other portions to extend the supplyofoil laterally tothe marginal area.

Further objects and advantages ofthe inven-' tion will appear asthedisclosure proceeds and the description is read in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a transverse verticalsection'through a motor suspension bearing and the axle to which it isapplied;

Fig. 2 is an'elevaticn of the'axle cap and-lubricator looking from theleft in Fig. 1' withthe axle removed;

Fig. 3 is a section axial to the bearing on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a new applicator composed of a group offelt bodies and a holder;

Fig. 5 is a similar perspective view of the felt bodies; and

Fig. 6 is a similar perspective View of the felt holder shown separatefrom the bodies.

In Fig. l, the reference numeral iii indicates a familiar form ofsuspension bearing provided with a liner or shell 9 i forming the actualbearing for the wheeled axle [2.

Associated with these is a motor suspension bearing cap l3 secured tothe motor suspension bearing by bolts 14 and provided with an oilreservoir l5.

The lubrication is performed by an applicator, generally indicated by i6, composed of a group of felt bodies ii resiliently urged through awindow v8 Claims. (Cl. 308 -132") opening! in'thelinerll to press thecurved surfaces 19 against the journal. Each of the bodies includes adepending wick portion 20 to raise oil from the reservoir l5 and deliverit to the surface IS.

"The appliance"for' carryingthe applicator is mounted upon a battleplate 2| riveted at 22 to the cover'2'3 fortheffilling; opening 24;Theplat'e 2|"'is equipped" withsp'aded flanges 25 to which links orlevers 26 arepivote'd' by a shaft 21 and urged toward the window openingby'spring's 28'.

The group of felt's'll i's claspe'dby a" holder 2'9"having' side flanges30 to confine the'felts against excessive lateral spreading; butallowing them to projectfar enough to' provide a" proper applicatorsurfa'c'e'and allow for""some side" expansion at the extreme projection;

The applicator is'mounted' on the links' or levers 26 bya shaft 3|.

For fur'ther detail of" the construction and operation, reierenc'eismadeto' the disclosure in the alcove mentioned application, which "is"rrrade a part hereof inth'einter'ests of brevity.

"The situation in the existing devices andthe improvement isgraphically" represented in Fig. 3',"which:showsaportion'ofthe axle I2and the bearing liner ll adjacent to the wheel" 32, and the reliefclearan'cesimth'e"liner are indicated at33';

" The width of the non-relieved bearing area is' '7", which isa'l's'othe-width of the window open iiigrit" in the'liner l I .lThe existingapplicatorsipresent bearing lubrication surfaces fifig' plus someexpansion due to lirooming o'ftlie' rem: "Ihatlea'ves a'theo'reticalarea at each side" adjacent to the bearing relieflimit thatis 'likelytowantfulllubrication, and under some circumstances does not get enough.

The new applicators are are" wide, plus an undetermined amount ofbrooming. That leaves a theoretical margin on the journal, which is notactually wiped by the lubricator, but due to brooming it is reduced avery considerable extent.

In actual practice, it has been found that this increase in the width ofthe applicator, indicated by a comparison of the holder marked 0 for oldand that marked N fOr new furnishes satisfactory lubrication under allnormal conditions without providing an excess to escape beyond theso-called oil dam and drip off on the bottom of the bearing.

This is accomplished by the construction shown 7 in Figs. 4, 5, and 6,in which the applicator is made up of six felt bodies corresponding tothose 3 in the original installations, except that they are all thicker,making the effective width of "the applicator wider.

In order to get the group within the appliances in the installations,the two outer felt bodies are cut away, as indicated at 35, and thesides 30 of the felt holder are offset at 37. This provides anapplicator that will be received between the levers 26 or the existingappliances and operate as described in the mentioned application, whileproviding the extended lubricating surface shown best in Fig. 3.

The invention makes it possible to continue using more than 25,000appliances while supplying the extra lubrication needed.

I claim:

1. In a journal lubricator, a lubricator pad having a concavely curvedfront surface for contact with a journal and offset laterally to extendthe surface, a holder for the pad. having side pieces to confine the padlaterally but spaced from the curved surface, and resilient meansoperatively connected to the pad for urging the pad toward the journalto be lubricated.

2. A lubricator pad having a concavely curved front surface for contactwith a journal including a group of felt bodies sid by side, the outerones only of said group being offset laterally to extend the curvedsurface adjacent to one end portion only thereof, and a holder for thepad having side pieces to confine the pad laterally but spaced from thecurved surface.

3. A lubricator pad having an upper lubricating portion and a dependingwick portion, the lubricating portion having a concavely curved frontlubricating surface and being extended laterally near the junction ofthe wick portion with.

the lubricating portion, in combination with a holder engaging the rearsurface of the pad and having an oflfset side flange conforming to thelateral extension of the pad and having a. front edge spaced rearwardlyfrom the lubricating surface, whereby the padis narrower in its upperportion to accommodate a mounting lever pivoted to the side flange ofthe holder.

4. A lubricator pad having an upper lubricating portion and 2. dependingwick portion, the lubricating portion having a curved front lubricatingsurface, and the wick portion being wider than the lubricating portionnear its junction therewith and lapping that portion to form a lateralextension to the lubricating surfac there-.

of, in combination with a holder engaging the rear surface of the padand, having an offset side flange conforming to the lateral extension ofthe pad and having a front edge spaced rearwardly from the lubricatingsurface, whereby the pad is narrower in its upper portion to accommodatea mounting lever pivoted to the side flange of the holder.

5. A lubricator pad having a concavely curved front surface for contactwith a journal to be lubricated and having at one side a substantiallyuni-planar surface and having its opposite side formed by two laterallyoffset surfaces whereby one end portion of the front surface is widerthan the other end portion thereof, in combination with a holderengaging the rear surfac of the pad and having an offset side flangeconforming to th two laterally offset surfaces of the pad and having afront edge spaced rearwardly from the front surface of the pad, wherebythe pad is narrower in its upper portion to accommodate a mounting leverpivoted to the side flange of the holder.

6. A lubricator pad having a concavely curved front surface for contactwith a journal to be lubricated and having at one side a substantiallyuni-planar surface and having its opposite side formed by two laterallyoffset plane surfaces, the lower end portion of the front surface beingwider than the upper end portion thereof, in combination with a holderengaging the rear surface of the pad and having an offset side flangeconforming to the two laterally offset surfaces of the pad and having afront edge spaced rearwardly from the front surface of the pad, wherebythe pad is narrower in its upper portion to accommodate a mounting leverpivoted to the side flange of the holder.

7. A unitary assembly of lubricator pads having a concavely curved frontsurface for contact with a journal to be lubricated comprising inner andouter pad elements, each inner element being defined by twosubstantially flat uni-planar surfaces and each outer element beingdefined by a single inner substantially fiat uni-planar surface and apair of laterally ofiset outer surfaces whereby one end portion of thefront surface of the assembly is wider than the other end portionthereof.

8. The combination claimed in claim 7, in which the front surface of thelower portion of the assembly is wider than the front surface of theupper portion thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 300,029 Stephenson June 10, 1884 955,608 Shortt -1 Apr. 19,1910 2,260,520 Hennessy Oct. 28, 1941 2,540,829 Miller Feb. 6,

